C F C F [Verse] C G On the first day of May at the close of the day C G As I stood in the shade of a green spreading tree C F A young lover a-courting a maiden I spied G C I drew very near them to hear and to see [Verse] Am G The dress that he wore was a velvet so green Am C G All trimmed with gold lace and as bright as the sea C Am And he said, “Love, I'll make you my own fairy queen F G C If you are but willing to go with me [Verse] G “Lisses and forts shall be at your command C G The mountains and valleys, the land and the sea C F And the billows that roar along the seashore G C If you are but willing to go with me [Verse] Am G “To make me a queen, my birth is too mean Am C G And you will get ladies of higher degree C Am I know not your name nor from whence you came F G C So I am not willing to go with thee” [Verse] G “I will tell you my name, and I love you the same C G As if you were a lady of higher degree MacAnanty's my name and from Scrabo I came F G C And the queen of that country, my love, you shall be” [Verse] Am G “If I were to go with one I don't know Am C G My parents and friends would be angry with me C Am They'd bring me back again with shame and disdain F G C So I am not willing to ramble with thee” [Verse] G “From your friends we will sail in a ship that won't fail C G With a silken topsail and a wonderful flight Am C And from misty Coleraine, to France and to Spain F G C Then back home again in one short night [Verse] Am G “For there is not a fort from this to the north Am C G But we'll dance all around it and sing merrily C Am And the lads of Queen Anne shall be at your command F G C And they will all stand in great dread of thee [Verse] G “For it's many's the mile I have roamed in my time F C G By land and by sea a-looking for thee C Am For I ne'er could find rest nor peace to my mind F G C Until fortune proved kind and sent you to me”